Unusual allies combine to battle Putin's plans

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More than 1000 activists, politicians and prominent Kremlin
critics gathered in Moscow on Russia's Constitution Day to seek
solidarity in fighting for democracy and human rights and opposing
what they see as President Vladimir Putin's authoritarian rule.

The meeting on Sunday brought together an unusual alliance of
liberals and communists who called for public opposition to a
series of Kremlin-sponsored political moves that critics say will
strengthen Mr Putin's grip on the country at the expense of
democracy.

"These are all very different people, but we have been united by
one common concern: the authorities' outright encroachment on our
rights," Lyudmila Alexeyeva, a rights campaigner, said at the
opening of the All-Russian Civil Congress for Democracy and Against
Dictatorship.

"If we don't show solidarity in defending our rights we will
lose every single one of them," said Ms Alexeyeva, head of the
Moscow Helsinki Group.

As the congress met, Mr Putin signed into law a bill that scraps
elections for regional governors and allows the president to
nominate candidates instead.

Mr Putin proposed the bill after the Beslan hostage tragedy.
After it passed through the parliament his signature was simply a
formality.

The plans have been criticised by the West as a threat to
Russian democracy, but officials say the changes are needed to
strengthen national unity.

Critics have accused Mr Putin of becoming increasingly
authoritarian and trying to hang on to power after his second and
final term ends in 2008.

He repeated on Sunday that he had no plans to change the
constitution, a necessary move for him to stand for a third
term.

"There are no such tasks before us, and we have no such plans,"
Interfax news agency quoted him as telling members of the
Constitutional Court on the day the country marked Constitution
Day.

Yevgeny Kiselyov, a journalist, criticised a bill that would
scrap the Constitution Day holiday, starting next year. He said the
bill, which was given preliminary approval last month, was a
Kremlin effort to reduce the importance of the constitution in
order to make changing it easier.

Critics have expressed concern that the Kremlin, making use of
the loyal parliament, might initiate a constitutional amendment
that will enable Mr Putin to extend his hold on power.

"The choice is simple: in a couple of years, we will be left
with either this constitution or these authorities," said Garry
Kasparov, a world chess champion and member of a liberal opposition
group. "I choose the constitution."